Protests in Breyten escalate

What started out as a small protest at KwaZanele in Breyten last Tuesday where dissatisfied members of the community, the majority unemployed, escalated to the chanting of struggle songs, barricading of the roads and confrontation with the police on Monday.

This time round, schools were affected as learners could not make their way to school as the situation was unsafe. Businesses were also hard hit as they remained closed for most of the day.

The affected learners said they were not happy with the situation as it is affecting them, and with preliminary exams in less than two weeks, there is no telling how this situation will reflect on their results.

Angry members of the community were protesting against local mines, with Umsobo Coal being the target for not doing anything to assist or improve the lives of the people in the area in which they operate in the form of employment, using or giving business to locally owned companies and implementing their present non-existing Social Labour Plan (SLP).

According to the locals, a meeting was held last week with representatives from the mine who informed them that they do have an SLP in place which still requires approval from the local municipality.
However, the locals are not merely interested in the mine’s SLP, but in real business.

“We don’t want bread crumbs from these mines, but real slices of bread. It does not help to have them promising to perhaps fix the stadium or something else, but still not deal with the real issues which is unemployment and business opportunities for locally owned businesses,” said one member of the community.

Skills development and job opportunities for the locals remain high on the agenda. It is also alleged that certain members of the local municipality are standing in the way of development for the people of Breyten and KwaZanele, as it was alleged that the mine was sent from pillar to post while looking for the municipal Integrated Development Plan (IDP) where they would chose projects that would assist the community.

After a long process, the documents were found. However, a meeting is still pending between Umsobo Coal and the Executive of Msukaligwa Local Municipality.

A member of the Breyten steering committee, Doctor Nhlapho, said: “Our place is not progressing. Someone returning here after 20 years still finds the place as they left it, yet we have mines around us who should be helping us.”

The situation turned volatile during the day as members of the community at one stage charged towards the police, pelting them with stones and using corrugated iron and other objects as shields. The police responded with volleys of rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, reportedly hitting at least four people.
At the time of going to print, Msobo Coal CEO Mr Koos Jordan was unable to comment, but requested an official request for comment from the newspaper.

A delegation representing the community and a representative from the mine were to meet with officials from the local municipality on Tuesday.